Archive for the ‘Non-fiction’ Category
by Amanda on Dec 22nd, 2011
Detective Piet Byleveld no doubt deserves a peaceful retirement after maintaining a 100% success rate solving serial murders during his sleuthing days. He has taken some time off from touring the country promoting his biography Byleveld: Dossier of a Serial Sleuth with author Hanlie Retief.
However, Byleveld told Udo Carelse of 567 Cape Talk that he is in fact only “semi-retired” as he is still working on cold cases at the request of members of the public. Carelse spoke to Byleveld about his ongoing interest in the Leigh Matthews murder:
Piet Byleveld [12:57m]:
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by Amanda on Dec 21st, 2011
Lara Buxbaum reports on the launch of Ivan Vladislavić’s new book, The Loss Library and Other Unfinished Stories, which took place at Boekehuis last week. Buxbaum recalls the words of Wits Professor Michael Titlestad, who remarked on the “metaphorical coincidence” of launching The Loss Library at what was probably the last of Boekehuis’ Saturday Voices series, foreshadowing its imminent closure.
In a conversation with Titlestad, Vladislavić discussed “the creative possibilities of incompletion” and “the archival impulse”, saying that incomplete narratives can be rewarding for the reader:
Ivan Vladislavić was in conversation with Michael Titlestad to launch his latest work, a collection of “unfinished stories”, at Boekehuis on Saturday.
For what was certainly the last event in the Saturday Voices/Saterdagstemme series of 2011 and most probably the final launch event ever, Boekehuis was packed to capacity. Several more people were huddled on the verandah, determined to ignore the ominous signs of an impending rainstorm. The mood was quite forlorn as no doubt everyone in the audience was aware of Boekehuis’s impending closure. I overheard at least two people mention that the gloomy weather was appropriate weather for a wake. However, if this was a wake, then it was a resolutely Irish one!
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by Amanda on Dec 14th, 2011
Justin Fox, author of The Marginal Safari, has spent the past three months traversing South African terrain in a search for what he has dubbed the country’s “Impossible Five” – the Cape leopard, the Riverine rabbit, the White lion, the Aardvark, and the Pangolin. In an article on Getaway blog, Fox describes finding the most elusive of the pack, the Pangolin:
Over the past three months I’ve been searching for the Impossible Five, the five most elusive animals in South Africa. In the end I managed to find three and a half out of five (it’s a long story, for another time). Perhaps the hardest creature to nail was the pangolin. Here’s how we got him …
There is an enormous hunting ranch near Upington called Kalahari Oryx where a young scientist is researching pangolins. A barefoot Darren Pietersen met me in the driveway. I was to spend the coming days with his family at their home (Darren’s father is manager of the ranch).
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Photo courtesy Getaway blog
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by Amanda on Nov 3rd, 2011
In the following 6-part podcast, Piet Byleveld speaks to East Coast Radio‘s Anisa Ussuph about his biography, Byleveld: Dossier of a Serial Sleuth, and his life as a detective. Despite having earned himself monikers like “Top Cop” and “Serial Sleuth” for his 100% success rate with serial murders, Ussuph finds Byleveld to be “down to earth and humble”.
Anisa Ussuph interviews Piet Byleveld - Part 1:
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Anisa Ussuph interviews Piet Byleveld - Part 2:
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We also bring you a lengthy interview with Byleveld in the New Age and a shorter one gleaned from Look Local:
Sitting at his kitchen table with fiancée Elize Smit, the respected former detective Piet Byleveld is laid back despite the media frenzy surrounding him, ahead of yesterday’s launch of the new book, Byleveld, Dossier of a Serial Sleuth, authored by Hanlie Retief. This is a proud moment for the retired detective.
His home tells a story of a man who is enjoying his retirement. Through the window, the garden is invitingly well manicured and Byleveld is proud to announce he has taken up gardening as a pastime.
In the lounge, family photographs in an eclectic mix of frames cover the walls. But it’s his beloved picture taken with former president Nelson Mandela that takes centre stage. “It was a big honour for me when Mr Mandela called to see me.
Have you actually retired?
“No, not really. I get approached by the public constantly to take on a case. I’ve had to call in consultants to assist me otherwise I’d be right back in there.”
What do you look for at a crime scene?
“After getting called to the scene I’ll try to establish a motive and look for clothing and any possible witnesses to the crime scene. I’ll identify the victim and forensics, pathologists and photographers are called in.”
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by Amanda on Oct 27th, 2011
Crime writer Mike Nicol spoke to LitNet’s Janet van Eeden about his “narrative non-fiction” book, Monkey Business: The Murder of Anni Dewani. In the interview, Nicol expresses his annoyance with journalists who have criticised his work as “nothing new”. Nicol says, “they miss the merit of narrative non-fiction and the way the book is constructed”:
Well done, Mike, for getting this book on to the shelves while the issue is still very topical. As the court case hasn’t come to South Africa yet, but is due to be heard here, this is a very clever move on your part. What prompted you to tap into the interest around the murder trial which has horrified South Africans and others, especially Britons?
Actually I was prompted by a suggestion from Frederik de Jager (the publisher at Umuzi) that I do something on the Anni Dewani murder. He first raised the issue in December last year and that got me thinking about it. At the time I couldn’t see a way to write up the murder in a way that would fit within the dictates of a fairly tight budget. However, while on holiday in Knysna, and after a lot of staring into the middle distance, I came up with the idea of running snippets out of the media as a way of piecing the narrative together. And Frederik and Umuzi liked the idea. I also have a fascination with narrative non-fiction and this seemed to be an interesting way to go about it. I don’t think it’s a form (the arrangement of discreet clippings from other sources) that is often used.
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by Amanda on Oct 21st, 2011
Join Michele Magwood and Camilla Twigg at Glenshiel next Thursday for an evening with top cop, Piet Byleveld. Byleveld will be speaking about his recently released biography, Byleveld: Dossier of a Serial Sleuth by Hanlie Retief, as well as how he solved some of South Africa’s toughest criminal cases.
The event costs R120 per person, including food and a range of award-winning Creative Block wines from Spier.
See you there!
Event Details
- Date: Thursday, 27 October 2011
- Time: 6:00 PM for 6:30 PM
- Venue: Glenshiel,
19 Woolston Rd,
Westcliff | Map
- Cost: R120 (includes food and a range of award-winning Creative Block wines from Spier)
- RSVP: Camilla Twigg, camillatwigg@iburst.co.za
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by Amanda on Oct 14th, 2011
If you missed the opportunity to meet detective Piet Byleveld on his tour promoting the new book by Hanlie Retief, Byeleveld: Dossier of a Serial Sleuth, take a look at a gallery of photographs from the events that the Random House Struik has put together.
The gallery includes photos from Byleveld’s visit to 94.7 Highveld Stereo, the Open Book Festival, book launches, evenings hosted by Good Times and Jenny & Co., and many more. Take a look:
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by Amanda on Oct 13th, 2011
London – BlackBerry users across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas were hit with service disruptions to their smartphones for a third day after an unexplained glitch cut off internet and messaging services for large numbers of users around the world.
In South Africa, Mrs Evita Bezuidenhout called a press conference to address the crisis which was attended by journalists, all with paper notebooks and pens in hand. The prominent ex-diplomat and social lubricatress reacted with barely concealed glee: “I’m not saying I told you so, as such, but I told you so.”
Mrs Bezuidenhout was referring to her recently published journal Evita’s BlackBessie, a wonderfully colourful depository of common sense, practical wisdom and empty pages where you can enter your contact numbers and other vital networking details where they cannot be wiped out when the magnetic field misbehaves or somebody trips over the wire of some supercomputer.
This book, one of the authoress’s best-selling to date, was published partly for the money to sustain the lifestyle to which Mrs Bezuidenhout has become accustomed as the most famous white woman in Africa, and partly out of compassion with humanity. Evita, who passed Science with a “D” symbol at Bethlehem High, knew that one blast from the sun and all electronic communication would break down.
Evita’s BlackBessie is also available in Afrikaans as Evita se BlackBessie – but NOT in electronic format.
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Since Tuesday, Tannie Evita has been issuing gentle reminders to her followers on Twitter that those who own Evita’s BlackBessie are having “the last laugh”:
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by Amanda on Oct 12th, 2011
On Monday, 17 October, Lynda Gilfillan will host a analytical discussion on the subject of Hugh Lewin’s acclaimed memoir, Stones Against the Mirror, at Kalk Bay Books. The discussion forms part of the bookshop’s Deep Reading series. Tickets cost R30 per person, payable in cash on arrival.
See you there!
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by Amanda on Oct 6th, 2011
In an interview with Diane de Beer, a shy Piet Byleveld reveals his surprise at becoming a household name in South Africa, aided now in part by the success of Hanlie Retief’s biography, Piet Byleveld: Dossier of a Serial Sleuth. Byleveld attributes most of his success as a cop to “old-fashioned police work”, saying he begins every case at the source – by investigating the victim:
How many of us know a cop’s name? Not in the sense of neighbourhood, but famous. When reading Hanlie Retief’s account of Piet Byleveld’s life aptly titled Byleveld – Dossier of a Serial Sleuth, one realises he is probably our only well-known cop in the sense that no one wonders who you’re talking about when you say his name.
“It’s not as if I was out there looking for publicity,” says the almost shy sleuth as we meet at a Pretoria News/WritersSpeak event last week at which he was the guest speaker. In fact, much of Byleveld’s life has been spent zooming in on one crime or another, with very little time or space for any real life.
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